Mort Zuckerman is quickly realizing that the media business is much more fickle than real estate. The Times dissects The Daily News publisher's track record in media and paints a sobering picture of how the News is faring under his reign: a dip of 40,000 in circulation, a surging New York Post and a lack of "cachet" in the tabloid wars. The Times also points out Zuckerman's other media failures: the "struggling" U.S. News and World Reports, a failed attempt to resuscitate Radar and the fumbled launch of a Daily News gossip magazine. Yet, it appears a crumbling media empire is best kept in the family and Zuckerman still hasn't lost his sense patriarchal generosity:

Mr. Zuckerman, who said that he expected his 8-year-old daughter Abigail to one day serve as the publisher of The Daily News..."

And when that day comes, a wizened Abigail will finally realize why her father bought her a sled every year for her birthday until age 19.

Zuckerman, Bound to the News [NYT]

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